"Oh, Sorcerer Supreme, over here!"
The wreck of a ship, its Jump Drive already belching black smoke, had just come to a stop outside the garden gates. As Deathstroke stepped out of the cargo hold and dusted himself off, someone called out to him enthusiastically.
Looking up, he saw a skinny red-skinned devil in the distance. He smiled, flew over, and shook the other man's hand.
"Hello, Mephisto. Here to settle accounts with Death again today?"
There were still countless souls lined up outside the garden, the queue nearly motionless. Translucent human figures drifted mindlessly around the two of them.
"Yes, as you know, we Hell Lords don't have it easy." The devil opened his huge mouth, revealing two rows of file-like sharp teeth. There was no emotion whatsoever in his smile, only practiced technique. "But I just took a turn through the garden and found that the Goddess of Death wasn't home. Do you know where she went?"
"What?" Thanos suddenly appeared behind Mephisto like a ghost, his enormous purple hand landing on the devil's shoulder. "You said she isn't here? Don't you come here often? Why haven't you seen her?"
Anyone else might have been intimidated by Thanos.
But who was Old Mephisto? He was one of the oldest Hell Lords, and beyond Hell, he was immortal.
He knew Thanos well, too. After all, every time he came to settle accounts with Death, he ran into Thanos. One day this purple-skinned Alien would bring a bouquet of flowers, the next a box of candy. They were all orbiting Death, and none of them was any more impressive than the others.
Others feared Thanos, but he did not.
"I just said she isn't home. You're asking me? Can't you see I'm asking the Sorcerer Supreme too?"
Flames erupted all